


Power Dynamics

by pumpkinqueene



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: A surprising amount of fluff and communication, Discussions of consent and agency, F/F, Knotting, Mating Cycles/In Heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 11:46:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6050398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pumpkinqueene/pseuds/pumpkinqueene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jasper's pride is preventing her from getting the help she needs, and Lapis will be damned if she lets this go on any longer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Power Dynamics

“And what,” Jasper smirked indolently, “Do you think you’re going to do with that pathetic thing?”

Lapis regarded her coolly, unruffled by her gloating.

“I’m going to knot you, of course,” came the withering response. Brazenly, Lapis thrust her swollen pudenda into her fist, looking Jasper directly in the face. Even as Jasper raised an eyebrow mockingly, a fat drop of slick dripped from between Lapis’ fingers and onto the floor.

“Right,” Jasper said derisively, “Sweetheart, I have to tell you…I have never been knotted in my life, and you’re not about to be the first to do it,”

She was fully clothed, in contrast with Lapis’ nakedness. Evidently, Jasper was under the impression that she had the upper hand in this scenario; that she was in control of the situation. It wouldn’t be the first time that she’d believed so, but Lapis would have thought she would have learnt from the Malachite fiasco. Evidently not.

“Well,” Lapis drawled, “Who would have thought such a sought-after specimen of Gemkind would be a virgin. How sweet,”

Jasper bristled like a great tiger, her hair fluffing up as she bared her canines in a snarl. Her eyes glowed like candle flames in the dark. She was stunning.

“Nobody has mounted me because I choose not to let them,” she hissed, “Bigger Gems than you have tried and failed, and with more than that puny thing you’re pointing at me,”

“I seem to have touched a nerve,” Lapis observed mildly, “And I assure you, this “puny thing” will be more than enough to bring you through your heat,”

“And I assure you that I can wait it out, just as I’ve always done when I ran out of the treatment in the past,” Jasper retorted. They were empty words. She was flushed and dishevelled, her gem glowing white-hot in her face. Her skin-tight outfit was torn up across her thighs where she’d raked her extended claws across her flesh to distract herself from the burning discomfort; and her nipples pushed starkly against the material across her chest. Most damning of all was the rapidly-spreading wet patch at the crux of her groin, and the rivulets dampening her inner thighs up to her knees. She was gasping for it, but too arrogant to ask for help, and too prideful to accept it when it was offered.

“That may have worked in the past,” Lapis pointed out, folding her arms, “But your circumstances are different now. There’s nowhere for you to hide away while you ride it out, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for Steven to see you like this,”

“He won’t,” Jasper said, but she sounded less confident.

“How do you propose hiding this from him?” Lapis countered, “Are you going to pretend you’ve spilled liquid down your pants every time you see him? What will you do when he asks why your gem is so hot, or why you’re trembling all the time? He’s innocent, but he’s no fool. What will you do when he starts asking questions?”

Plainly, Jasper could formulate no adequate rebuttal to these arguments. She settled on glaring petulantly, shifting uncomfortably on the couch. She attempted to surreptitiously grind her thighs together against her aching groin, but the act was hardly a subtle one. Lapis smirked.

“You’re not mounting me!” Jasper growled when she caught sight of Lapis’ smug expression, “I refuse to be knotted by one so small! It would be shameful,”

Leave it to Jasper to make sex wholly about power dynamics. Lapis would laugh fondly, if she wasn’t so sure Jasper would storm off in a prideful huff.

“Jasper, I once stole the entire ocean,” she said instead, “My water manipulation abilities make me the strongest Crystal Gem, even if my physical strength is limited and my stature isn’t exactly impressive. Nobody would think less of you for being knotted by me. It wouldn’t make you weak or submissive to be mounted by a Gem as powerful as me. In fact, you could argue that you should be admired for attracting such a strong partner- or do you think I walk around offering my knot to every Gem I meet?”

Jasper’s resolve was buckling. Lapis could see it in her face. Her big golden eyes darted around as she nibbled her lip indecisively, unthinkingly scoring fresh tears into her catsuit with her nails.

Being right may have satisfied Lapis, but she wasn’t too happy about pressuring Jasper into this. Unfortunately, she had little choice in the matter. She hadn’t been lying when she’d pointed out the perils of Jasper trying to wait out this heat with Steven in close proximity. And, even if they didn’t have a small human child to worry about, Jasper was an extremely strong and desirable Gem- which meant that her pheromones were also particularly strong and desirable. Her decision to wander around wafting about waves of her strong scent was beginning to wear on her team mates, who were becoming distracted and erratic. Needless to say, that wasn’t good, particularly considering recent threats to the planet, and their constant struggle against corrupted Gem Beasts.

Jasper was suffering too, although she would never admit it. She was constantly wound up and uncomfortable, and she often zoned out while people were speaking to her. She couldn’t go on like this. She had to take care of her heat, for everyone’s sake.

Lapis just wished the whole thing didn’t feel so dubious. She’d taken away Jasper’s bodily autonomy once before, and she was loathe to do it again.

“I won’t do anything without your express permission,” she felt compelled to inform Jasper, “So, if you want me to leave right now, I will. But I think you need this, and it’s the best course of action to take. If it’s just me you don’t want, I’ll enlist somebody else to help you. The ball’s in your court,”

The last bit was a human saying she’d grown quite fond of. It seemed particularly applicable in this situation. And Lapis meant what she’d said. If Jasper said no, that would be the end of it. If Jasper said yes, but requested somebody else to help her out, Lapis would accept that too, even if it would pain her to do so.

Lapis had learned much about altruism since meeting Steven.

She’s not sure what Jasper’s learned. That’s Jasper’s business. They’ve spent far too much time in each other’s heads for Lapis to ever want to go back in there. Let Jasper chart her own character development.

(But, if pressed, Lapis would speculate that Jasper’s devotion to Steven is evidence enough of how much she’s changed).

“You would still help me, even if I rejected you?” Jasper asked cautiously. Her golden eyes were narrowed with suspicion.

“Yes,” Lapis replied without hesitation.

“Even if I wanted to fuck…I don’t know, Greg?” Jasper continued challengingly.

“Fucking Rose Quartz’s widower would turn you on, you sick bitch,” Lapis said dryly, “Sure, I’d ask him for you,”

“I wasn’t being serious,” Jasper glowered, “Not really. At this point, my inhibitions are lower than Pearl’s BMI, so I’d probably do it and regret my entire life afterwards,”

Understandably, Lapis bursts out laughing.

“I’d pay to see you trying to sneak out after putting Steven’s dad into a coma,” she grinned.

“A coma?” Jasper asked indignantly, “What do you think I’d do to him?”

“Probably forget that he’s a squishy human and make him go for 12 rounds until he collapsed?” Lapis suggested, “Relax. Don’t look so grim, sourpuss. Greg couldn’t handle you, but I certainly can,”

“You’re pretty confident for a shrimp with a tiny pecker,” Jasper declared. She was resorting to one of her standard defensive measures: belittling her opponent to hide how discomforted she felt. Still, it cost Lapis a supreme amount of effort to refrain from lashing out. She had to remind herself that Jasper felt vulnerable right now, so it was only natural that she’d snap at Lapis’ throat. Getting angry wouldn’t help the situation, particularly when she knew that Jasper would absolutely fall on her own sword to spite Lapis.

Instead, she smiled.

“I think we’ve already established that you’re very big and I’m much smaller,” she said wryly, “Insulting me won’t make you feel better,”

“Yes it does,” Jasper argued.

“Jasper, you look like you’ve been nailed in the crotch with Amethyst’s supersoaker,” Lapis sighed, “You need help. I’ve already talked to Garnet-,”

Jasper let out an indignant growl.

“-To find out if you could use synthetic substitutes,” Lapis continued, unabashed, “And she said that only a real knot will do it. Something about gem biochemistry or something,”

Jasper glared at her mutely.

“I’m sorry I went behind your back,” Lapis relented, “But I knew you weren’t going to seek help on your own. This isn’t going to go away- unless you’re willing to try fusing again. No? I thought as much,”

“It’s my body,” Jasper said, “You can’t make decisions for me, and I can’t control you in any way either. I thought we agreed on that,”

Her words were like a hammer blow to the sternum. Lapis felt as if somebody had poured ice down her back.

“I wasn’t!” she said, stricken, “I wanted to find out what options were available for you, and then I was going to leave you to choose what you want to do! I’d never…not again! You don’t really-,”

“No, I don’t,” Jasper sighed, “I’m sorry. I’m just…on edge. This heat thing is freaking me out. I hate it,”

“I know,” Lapis said sympathetically, “Well, I don’t. I’ve never suffered from that. I hear it’s a quartz thing,”

“They had to give us some way of keeping us in line,” Jasper snorted bitterly, shifting to check that the plastic on the sofa was still protecting it from her copious slick, “Tell us we’ll turn into bestial creatures with the biological impulses of organics every month, and they’ll give us the remedy if we do as we’re told. I guess they wanted to make sure we were nearly invulnerable to everyone but the Diamonds. It’s fucked up. Clever, but…fucked up. I stockpiled some, but I ran out last month,”

“You know if I could get that remedy for you, I would,” Lapis said gently, “I’d throw the ocean at Yellow Diamond herself if it would mean you didn’t have to suffer like this,”

“You’d throw the ocean at her anyway,” Jasper sniggered.

“Yeah,” Lapis conceded with a grin.

Jasper huffed out another laugh, slapping a hand against her own chest distractedly. It was an entirely innocent, ordinary gesture that she made from time to time when she found something particularly amusing, but her heat had messed everything up. The slight brush of her pinky against a prominent nipple caused her to double over moments later, digging her claws into the meat of her thighs. Her shoulders shuddered as her arousal, tempered as it had been by their playful conversation, rocketed back up to unbearable levels.

“Fine,” she said before Lapis could say anything, “Get on over here and stick it in me,”

“How seductive,” Lapis said, “I’m not just going to “stick it in you”. You’re a Gem, not a warm hole. We’re doing this so you’ll be comfortable again. This is about you, so don’t think for a second that I’m going to treat you like that,”

“I’m sure I’ll be thankful you’re being so responsible later,” Jasper grunted through gritted teeth, “But I think I’ve reached my limit and I really need you now,”

“Are you sure?” Lapis asked seriously, “If you want me to find someone else, I could-,”

“Lapis, get over here and fuck me unconscious!” Jasper roared back, completely snapping. Before Lapis could respond to that with as much dignity as she could muster, Jasper stood up on shaky legs and began to peel her skin-tight catsuit off. Lapis watched with a guilty, ill-concealed arousal. She knew that Jasper wanted this because it would ease her suffering, but it was difficult to avoid noticing how attractive she was.

“Do you want to do this in the dark?” Lapis suggested breathlessly, “Or I could look away? I could wear a blindfold if you-,”

“Is now a good time to admit that I’ve been in love with you for months and I’m completely OK with you drooling over me?” Jasper interjected. She paused in the process of undressing- she’d only pulled the straps of her suit down and kicked off her boots- to measure Lapis’ reaction to her candour. Jasper had a reputation for being blunt, but it was a reputation which wasn’t wholly true to reality. She was certainly frank (and often rude) when she chose to speak, particularly when she had a strong opinion; yet she was entirely capable of concealing what she was really thinking and keeping silent when it suited her. Her time in the military and in Homeworld’s complex, dog-eat-dog society had taught her how to maintain an air of confidence unless she was absolutely at breaking point.

It was little wonder, then, that Lapis had no inkling of Jasper’s feelings. There had been no outward signs that Jasper viewed her as anything other than a friend. In a way, Lapis felt vexed. She’d been eyeing up Jasper since they’d first met, an attraction which mingled with resentment after her rough treatment and imprisonment on that ship, until she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to fuck Jasper or murder her. As she’d pulled Malachite into the ocean, she had suspected it was a combination of both. Later- after Malachite had broken up, after the Cluster was destroyed, after they had stood before the Crystal Gems expecting rough treatment and no mercy; after Garnet had chastised Jasper for her crimes and her lack of respect for fusion, then turned her ire on Lapis an pronounced her “even worse”…

After they had seen the error of their ways and expressed remorse and joined this ragtag band of radicals, Lapis had been forced to work with Jasper irrespective of either of their wishes. It had been difficult for both of them. They instinctively scorned the concept of taking orders, and it was hard for them to overcome their social conditioning to treat those around them with respect. They had persevered; and, if it bothered Lapis that Jasper wouldn’t go anywhere near her for a solid six months after Malachite, she tried not to let it show.

She knew that what she had done to Jasper was despicable, and regardless of what Jasper had done to her, nobody deserved to hurt like that. So she had pushed as gently as she could, trying to carve a niche into Jasper’s heavily-guarded heart. It had hurt that everyone else guessed the password before her. Then again, nobody else had trapped her in a toxic fusion for revenge for an entire year.

Finally, Jasper began to relent. To Lapis’ surprise, Jasper apologised to her first, on one chilly September day as they all sat around a beach bonfire.

“I’m the one who’s sorry!” Lapis had sobbed. They had sat there all night, quietly talking long after the other gems had left and Steven was tucked up in bed. It wasn’t a magic cure for their problems, or balm to make them forget everything that had happened- but their relationship began to mend.

A declaration of love was one of the last things Lapis would have expected Jasper to blurt out like that. It wasn’t an unwelcome revelation by any means (because Lapis had been unsuccessfully attempting to bury her surely unrequited feelings for Jasper for the past few months), but it was certainly a shock.

“Wow,” Lapis said, “Uhm…snap? I mean…I feel the same. Urgh, this is so awkward. This is the worst time for this to happen, because now we’re going to start worrying we’re taking advantage of each other, and-,”

“Lapis, are you taking advantage of me?” Jasper said. Her lips twitched; a sign she was amused.

“No, of course not!” Lapis said emphatically.

“And I’m not taking advantage of you, so if we could get on with this…?” Jasper finished, “Seriously, I’m so hot down there that I’m pretty sure I’m going to burn through this damn suit in a minute,”

They came together in a crashing of lips. Lapis didn’t wait for Jasper to finish undressing, flying up to seize her face in both hands and slamming their mouths together forcibly. Jasper mumbled contentedly, cradling Lapis’ head in one massive palm. With her other hand, she resumed undressing, peeling her catsuit down her chest. She had to slip away to finish off, bending at the waist to pull it down her legs and fling it to one side. Her voluptuous breasts bounced with the movement. Lapis swallowed heavily.

Finally nude, Jasper stood to her full height. She was blushing slightly, but made no move to cover herself up or express any vulnerability.

“It was…difficult to say no when you came to me like that,” she admitted suddenly, “I didn’t want to be an obligation or a charity case. But…you’re stunning,”

If Lapis had feathers, she was sure she would have fluffed up her plumage with pride.

“Me?” she laughed, “What about you? Do you realise how much I’ve worried that I’d walk in here one day to find you with somebody else?”

“So we’re both hot,” Jasper decided.

“Perfect for each other, really,” Lapis agreed.

“Good,” Jasper nodded, “Now get over here and knot me before I lose my shit,”

She shoved aside the coffee table and lowered herself to the floor.

“Are you sure?” Lapis asked breathlessly, “That can’t be comfortable. Isn’t it cold? I- Oh,”

It was a universally acknowledged fact that Garnet was the thickest Crystal Gem until Jasper came along. Jasper’s thighs were massive, supporting her wide hips and huge ass. Sliding a sheet of paper between them while they were closed would be an impossibility. Now, she spread her legs wide, revealing her drenched cunt to Lapis’ ravenous gaze.

Lapis stumbled over to her like a drunk, falling to her knees. There could be no foreplay this time. When Jasper’s heat was over, they could spend hours painting invisible messages on each other’s bodies with lips and teeth and tongues and fingers. Right now, Jasper had been enduring this heat for the past few days without relief. Her comfort had to be prioritised over acting out filthy fantasies.

Lapis lined herself up with a shudder. Her pudenda was pulsing with heat, but compared with Jasper’s burning hot pussy, she was almost cold.

“Do it,” Jasper hissed through gritted teeth. Her eyes and gem were glowing golden. Lapis tried to maintain eye contact as she slowly pushed in, but the slick, spasming heat around her was too much to bear. When she was seated all the way within Jasper, as far as she could go, she realised that she was panting into Jasper’s sculpted belly.

“Fuck, yes,” Jasper whispered, arching her back to grind against Lapis’ pelvis until Lapis shone with her juices from waist to upper thigh. Beneath them, a puddle was gathering. If Lapis had been in any position to laugh, she would have. It was so typical of Jasper to be overt in literally everything she did- including sex. They’d have to clean this place up before everyone else returned.

Slowly, Lapis began fuck Jasper in long, rolling strokes, watching Jasper’s face carefully for any signs of discomfort. The only thing she detected was impatience.

“More,” Jasper whimpered, clenching around the length within her.

“Alright, fine,” Lapis panted, “Just don’t squeeze it off. Shit, even your pussy muscles are buff. Stop laughing or this will be over in about thirty seconds,”

She picked up the pace, but even this wasn’t enough for Jasper.

“Harder,” she ordered.

Fine, Lapis thought, Have it your way. She drew out until only the very end remained within Jasper, then slammed back in with as much force as she could muster. Her hips stung from the clap of flesh against flesh, but Jasper let out a hoarse cry and a blissful “Yes!”

So she was loud- as if Lapis had expected any different from the Gem whose normal speaking voice could be heard fifty yards away when she didn’t trouble to keep it down.

Lapis barely managed three passes at this rough pace before Jasper arched up with a scream, clenching her thighs around Lapis until her grip was bordering on painful. She convulsed with ecstasy on the verge of agony, and her fingers scoured gouges into the wooden floor as she came with an explosive gush. It was absolutely the hottest thing Lapis had ever experienced. How she managed to avoid coming too, she would never know.

“I still need to knot you,” she groaned, “Very impressive, by the way. Some of it hit my chin,”

“I try,” Jasper whimpered, her eyes clenched tightly shut, “Why isn’t it stopping?”

“Because I haven’t knotted you yet,” Lapis said, “Come on, let’s see if you can hit me in the face this time,”

She ran her fingers down Jasper’s pubis, through the pale curls cresting her vulva, and settled on her clit. Jasper shuddered, biting her lip. Lapis began to stroke the swollen nub with the pads of her fingers, countering the circular motion with long, dragging strokes of her length. Her pace was harsh enough that Jasper seemed satisfied.

Competetive to the last, Jasper somehow managed to leave droplets on Lapis’ nose and cheekbones when she came again. If Lapis had thought this second round would be tempered by the first, she was mistaken. Jasper bellowed just as loudly and came just as harshly and wetly as she did the first time, before the bow of her back flattened out again and she sank back down onto the floor. Lapis didn’t think that would ever get old.

Lapis felt her knot begin to swell and knew she wasn’t going to last much longer. She wondered if she could wring one last orgasm out of Jasper before they were tied together. It was worth a try.

She didn’t make it. She felt the exact moment at which her knot swelled past the point of return, and jolted with a low “Fuuuuck”. She tugged against Jasper’s hole to confirm what she already knew: she wasn’t going anywhere. Seconds later, she was filling Jasper with her release, curling her fingers into Jasper’s thighs with a force which would have bruised a human.

Jasper wasn’t done surprising her today. Lapis may have been in the throes of her own orgasm, but Jasper seemed to have a habit of coming so dramatically that it was impossible to miss it. Lapis felt her pelvis creak alarmingly with the force of Jasper’s thighs clamping around her one final time, but was so caught up in the bliss of coming inside that dripping heat that she didn’t even register the pain. She was sure that would come later.

When they were both done, Lapis slumped unapologetically across Jasper’s stomach. Her legs were like cooked spaghetti; there was no way she could stay on her knees for the next half an hour or so while they waited for her knot to go down. She nearly drifted off when Jasper began to gently stroke her hair, but reminded herself that it was bad form to fall asleep while knotting someone. Besides, they had to clean this place up before the others came back. Jasper hadn’t left behind a small puddle so much as a small pond. And they probably stank of sex.

“Woah,” Jasper finally muttered into the silence.

“Yeah,” Lapis hummed back with a lazy grin.

“Woah,”

“Well, I don’t mean to brag-,”

“Fuck off,” Jasper snorted.

“Yeah sure,” Lapis said mockingly, “Except…Oh wait! I can’t! My knot is still inside you!”

“Alright, you’ve made your point,” Jasper said with a roll of her eyes. They weren’t glowing anymore, and nor was her gem. Her flesh was a much more normal temperature, the flush on her face had faded, and she was completely chilled out. The dopy grin on her face was both endearing and infectious.

“You can admit that I’m amazing in bed,” Lapis said, “It won’t kill you,”

“We’re not in a bed,”

“Three orgasms, Jasper,” Lapis said smugly, “Three. Admit it. I’m good,”

“All hail Lapis, Queen of Sex,” Jasper said wryly. It was close to admittance as she was likely to get.

It began to rain hard, hammering on the roof and sheeting down the windows. It was chilly out, Lapis knew. Soon, the first snows would arrive. It was probably pretty brisk in the house at the moment- they didn’t have the heat on- although she couldn’t feel it. Jasper was no longer feverish with desire, but she still generated heat like an oven. Cradled between Jasper’s thighs, Lapis was actually feeling pretty toasty and comfortable. Then she remembered that Jasper was lying on the hard, chilly floor in a pool of her own slick, with Lapis draped on top of her, and probably uncomfortably full with Lapis’ knot and abundant release within her.

“Are you comfortable?” she asked.

“I’ve had worse,” Jasper shrugged, “We need a bath,”

“Then cuddling in bed?” Lapis asked. She tried to make it sound like she was joking, just in case Jasper wasn’t receptive to the idea. She wasn’t joking at all, naturally.

“Yeah, sure,” Jasper said, “Damn, it’s really coming down out there,”

“Hmm,” Lapis hummed happily, drawing figure eights on Jasper’s belly, “It might even be wetter than you,”

She allowed a beat for her comment to sink in before sniggering at her own bawdy humour.

“I let you knot me,” Jasper accused in a wounded tone.

“Oh, come on!” Lapis laughed unrepentantly, “That was a good one!”

“I hate you,” Jasper grumbled.

Perhaps yesterday, those words would have hurt. Yesterday, Lapis couldn’t even conceive of a scenario in which Jasper would ever feel the same way she did. Now, she could laugh quietly, because she knew differently.

She just hoped that the others wouldn’t come back early to find them tied together in the middle of the living room.


End file.
